Shadows of Ice and Fire
by Amashelle
Summary: This is the story of the Taelons, from their sepparation to their death and the end of the blood-war with their kin, the Jaridians.
1. Default Chapter

AU, as I'm not exactly an expert on the history and may have gotten details wrong or mixed up. This is the story of the Taelons and the Jaridians, from when they were one to the very end of their blood war. The italics are written in the point of view of Da'an, for those who have trouble figuring this out. Picture the rest being silently narrated by Da'an as he prepares to attempt to save his race.

Shadows of Ice and Fire

As our time draws near, I leave a record of our crimes against, not only the humans, but also the chimera, the Jaridians and all other races we have encountered in our desperate hunt for survival. 

I fear it is a dark tale, but its truth must come to light, one way or another. Should we survive, I realize that I will have to live with my treason. The betrayal of my own species, but in the end it is the only way. There can be no justice without betrayal, though it pains me to know that the act of treason must be committed on my part. 

I am Da'an. Liam Kinkade, who's story is closely entwined with my own, has called me a 'friend to humanity'. I suppose that I have been that, though there is much that one must understand. The horrors, which I will now speak of, are my fault, as well. I helped to commit them, and am therefor no less guilty than my dear child, Zo'or, who now lays dead at my feat, a smudge of blue light on the iron rock of this chamber. 

My story begins long before my birth. Long before my species even existed, with a race we call the Atavus, a religious cult, and a dream of immortality…

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

'Thank you, my fellow Atavus, and welcome!' The man's voice boomed out over the small crowd of people that had gathered. 'I'm sure you are all curious as to why you have been called here, and those of you who have heard the rumors are doubtless skeptical that such a thing as I propose can be done, well here I am to show you that it _is_ possible. It _is_ a goal that is not only within our imagination, but sitting right before us, ready to be taken into our hands!'

He paused to let the words he was saying sink in. His success was announced to him as quiet murmurs waved out across the crowd. 'You understand now, don't you? The prize of immortality is just waiting for us! Who are we to reject such a gift?'

The crowd sent up a chorus of cheers, causing the man to smile. 

__

Much of what was done has been lost to my memory, the story buried deep in the dust of countless years of eons past. It is easy to look back now and say that the separation had been a mistake, but to our for-fathers, it likely seemed the most intelligent thing ever thought of. 

I am horrified to know that they likely knew what would happen.

'Hold still, this may hurt.' _Hurt_ was far from the term the doctor had been hinting at. _Agony_, _Torture_, would have been far closer to the pain the individual felt. His body lit up with a glowing red light and both fire and ice coursed through his veins, burning and freezing as it went, thawing, melting. Lights flickered in and out of the being's sight, blackness followed by blinding white suns. Stars exploded on the surface of his closed eyelids and he felt every spark as it burned its way into his body. The smell of brunt flesh played at his nose, followed by the cool smell of winter mornings. His own screams shattered his eardrums.

And then it was over. 

'How do you feel?' The doctor asked, his voice cheerful and unconcerned that his patient was half-unconscious with pain.

'I…'

'That's what I thought. Do not try to speak now, for you are still a little weak from the procedure.'

__

We all hold an echo of that pain, a distant sense that our bodies are being torn apart. Long have I wondered; did the Jaridians suffer it too?


	2. Chapter Two

****

Ma'lan smiled with satisfaction as his patient laid back down on the surgery table. As usual, the procedure had been successful. Things were moving along according to plan. Soon, the entire race would be a great, undying species. 

__

He could not have known how wrong this dream was.

A loud knock rapped itself upon the door, the person obviously in a hurry if they were too lazy to ring the doorbell, as anyone else would have. Sighing, but the smile still uncontrollably resting on his face, Ma'lan turned and smartly pressed a single button on his wall, causing the silver door to slide itself open. A single, panicked figure stood there, his eyes wide with fright.

'They have come.'

Ma'lan's own eyes widened. 'No, they can't of! Not after seeing the success they have allowed to take place! So many have been helped!'

'But they are not among them.' 

__

They were the early experiments, the ones that were not as successful. At least, that's who Ma'lan thought they were. He moved to the nearest window and gazed out to see a small crowd of figures he'd never seen before. They were definitely not the failures he had expected to see.

'What are they, exactly?' He asked the other doctor.

'Um… they would be the other half.'

'The other half of what?' But there was no answer, there was no one left to answer. Ma'lan had not even heard the quiet sound of the stranger's body flopping to the floor, but when he turned from the window that's exactly where the other man way laying. In the still-open doorway stood on of the figures from down below. 'How did you get in here?' he demanded. An unnatural heat was radiating from the being, and Ma'lan felt the urge to back away.

'I am one of your creations.' It said smoothly, angrily, and then, Ma'lan's vision went blank.


End file.
